If this recipe had an alternate title, it would be Better Apple Cider. Or, Would You Like Some Wine with Your Cider? Or, Oops, I Spilled Some Wine in You Cider, Here, Have More Wine Cider. Or, Dash Gud Stuffs.

Hi there! Mulled wine newb here and a newly initiated fan at that. Clinky clinky! (That was my mulled wine cup toasting with your mulled wine cup. A meeting of the mulls!) I know the Holidays are over and this is typically something you see that time of the year, but I couldn’t fit it in back then. Plus, we’re just barely scratching the surface of cold down here in the South and we’ve been having these really blahtastic craptacularly gray days and that, Forkers, calls for something warm to drink. Something to makes us feel toasty inside. A little sumthin’ like this.

I’d bought a cabernet wine for this originally, but didn’t realize till afterward that I used a wine my mother-in-law gave to my hubby for Christmas instead. Whoops! The good thing is it was a happy mistake because this mulled wine stuff is gooood.

Our kidlet loves those little cutie oranges, and we had tons of them, so I ended up juicing a few of those as well as sacrificing more for garnish. They’re a good choice since they’re nice and sweet. I also couldn’t decide if I wanted to use strips of orange peel for garnish or slices of orange, so I prepped both. If you decide not to garnish with the orange strips or any of it at all, you could always serve this punch bowl-style and sprinkle the orange strips on top and float the orange slices for a pretty presentation.

There’s not many pictures this time because it’s a very easy, quick recipe. Just stir together everything and let it come to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and continue to simmer for about ten minutes. Add the honey to taste if you’d like it a little sweeter, which is what I did. I probably used closer to half a cup. You might want to adjust it to your taste depending on the wine used.

This will be served next time we have any winter guests or host any Holiday events and such. It is quick and easy to make and keeps really well on your back stove burner, the heat turned down low as possible to keep it warm. I sipped on this a little off and on all day and it reheats fine in the microwave as well. It really is like a better apple cider. The spiced notes are just right and it helps chase those gray day doldrums away. Enjoy!

Mulled Wine

by Ina Garten via Food Network

Prep Time: 1o minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Level: Easy Serves: 8

• 4 cups apple cider
• 1 (750-ml) bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 star anise
• 4 oranges, peeled, for garnish

Combine the cider, wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, zest, juice, cloves and star anise in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour into mugs, add an orange peel to each and serve.

Notes:

The only ingredient I couldn’t find was the star anise, so I can’t say how it was with it but the recipe is definitely delicious enough without.

Store leftovers in the fridge. This does very well reheated the next day so you could definitely make it ahead of time. It might look a little cloudy after being chilled but will go back to a nice, smooth-looking consistency once reheated. Reheat either on the stove top or in the microwave.

Plan to have a little extra honey in case you’d like it a little sweeter. After dissolving the one quarter cup in mine it still tasted a bit too bitter from the wine. Or maybe I just like my drinks sweeter.

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